Gilead Sciences GILD NASDAQ:GILD

Financial Sector Gainers: The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE), Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS), Atlas Financial Holdings(NASDAQ:AFH), Citizens (NYSE:CIA), ZipRealty (NASDAQ:ZIPR)

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE)’s shares rose 6% to 22.89 after Raymond James upgraded the real estate landholder and developer, saying its “huge” cash surplus is a good sign for the Fla. company’s plan to build the world’s largest retirement community. The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) stock performance was 6.02% in last session and finished the day at $22.89. Traded volume was 1,789,251 shares in the last session and the average volume of the stock remained 426.78K shares. The beta of the stock remained 1.42. The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) insider ownership is 0.12%.

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS)’s subsidiary Investacorp, Inc., announced Leslie Moraza-Vigil as National Recruiting Co-Director. Ms. Moraza-Vigil brings more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Investacorp, Ms. Moraza-Vigil served as national recruiter at Independent Financial Partners (IFP), one of LPL’s largest OSJ offices, as well as Mutual Service Corporation. She holds the series 7 license. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS) rose 5.71% to $2.96 yesterday on volume of 667,130 shares. The intra-day range of the stock was $2.79 – 2.98. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS) has a market capitalization of $538.16 million.

Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFH) major shareholder Magnolia Capital Partners, Llc bought 500,000 shares of Atlas Financial Holdings stock on the open market in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $6,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,357,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,973,800. Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFH)’s stock on May 23, 2014 reported a increase 5.05% to the closing price of $14.35. Its fifty two weeks range is $7.25 – 15.50. The total market capitalization recorded $156.79 million. The overall volume in the last trading session was 95,685 shares. In its share capital, Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFH) has 9.48 million outstanding shares.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) reported results on May 06, 2014 for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Rick D. Riley, Vice Chairman and President, said, “We began 2014 with increased premium revenues and investment income, which is further complemented by favorable claim experience. Our life operations contributed to the premium increase with both new and renewal business reflecting strong first quarter sales.” On Friday, shares of Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) advanced 5.35% to close the day at $6.50. Company return on investment (ROI) is 2.00% and its monthly performance is recorded as -2.26%. Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) quarterly revenue growth is -9.47%.

ZipRealty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIPR), a leading online residential real estate brokerage and provider of technology and marketing solutions, has released a new report showing that median home sales prices were up an encouraging 6.1% year-over-year in April 2014. However, that mid-single digit increase represents a sharp deceleration compared to last year, when the average home sales price increased at a pace of 16.4% for April year-over-year. The median sales price in ZipRealty’s 24 metros stood at $277,627 in April 2014. On Friday, shares of ZipRealty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIPR) advanced 6.83% to close the day at $3.44. Company return on investment (ROI) is -43.90% and its monthly performance is recorded as -0.58%. ZipRealty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIPR) quarterly revenue growth is -30.22%.